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What are vegan sandals made from?

Vegan shoes and sandals are created with no materials from animals with includes leather, suede, snakeskin, wool as well as silk. Faux leather is typically made from plastic affixed to a woven backing, whilst the vegan alternative to suede is created using synthetic fibres. Beyond Skin vegan sandals and shoes are produced using luxurious Italian vegan leather, recycled microfibre suede, cream lacquered resin soles, recycled faux leather lining with a vegetable polymer coating, and a selection of vintage-inspired woven fabrics.

Are vegan sandals bad for the planet?

Most faux leather is composed of petrochemicals, and although plastic is not an ideal eco-friendly material, the impact of vegan leather manufacturing is far smaller than the impact of pollution from leather tanning. Animal leather is tanned using dangerous chemicals in parts of the world that have little or no health and safety protections for workers, and poor environmental protections. One of the chemicals commonly used for tanning called chromium is listed as one of the top ten biggest pollution problems in the world. Whereas textile technology is always progressing, with new fabrics made using sustainable currently in development. After taking everything into account, we believe synthetic leather is a more eco-friendly choice to animal leather.

Why are vegan sandals so expensive?

Beyond Skin vegan sandals are more expensive than bigger fashion brands because our footwear is produced in Spain within the EU by talented shoemakers who are protected by employment laws and health and safety regulations, avoiding the unsafe conditions and poverty pay that happens elsewhere in the fashion industry that typically permits prices to be so cheap. We also became aware that after oil, fashion is the worst polluting industry, so we wanted to source only the highest quality recycled synthetic materials for our footwear. Because we’re striving to create sandals that tick all the boxes of not harming humans or small children, not harming the environment and not harming animals, this makes our vegan footwear more expensive.

How do you take care of vegan sandals?

Thankfully you won't need to stock up on expensive shoe polish for vegan sandals. As faux leather is normally created using polyurethane plastic, to take care of them, simply wipe the shoes with a wet cloth. Some fabric protectors are also suitable for microfibre suede (we recommend always checking the label on the fabric protector).